Disney-Pixar to Annies: Up Yours

Disney has sponsored the Annie Awards since 1972, but now the animation icon and its subsidiary Pixar have withdrawn their support from the industry's longest-running animation awards fest.

Variety reports that Disney and Pixar's withdrawal stems from concerns over voting and an overall feeling that ASIFA-Hollywood (the International Animated Film Society) skews towards fans of DreamWorks Animation (this despite the fact that Pixar's Up won top honors at last year's Annies).

The big issue is that membership to ASIFA is available to anyone willing to pay, whereas an institution such as the Motion Picture Academy is an organization whose membership and awards voting is open only to industry professionals.

Disney-Pixar president Ed Catmull told the trade, "After more than a year of discussions with the ASIFA board, we have regretfully decided to withdraw from the organization and no longer participate in the annual Annie Awards."

He added, "We believe there is an issue with the way the Annies are judged, and have been seeking a mutually agreeable solution with the board."